IT’S a small world – even more so if you’re a hot 20-something looking for lasting romance in the Love Island villa.
Over the years a number of the ITV show’s singletons have crossed paths in the outside world and this year is no exception.
Last night, new Love Island bombshell Uma Jammeh, 23, realised she had already snogged semi-pro footballer Ronnie Vint, 27, several years earlier.
The model and VIP host was working an event at bar Ballie Ballerson, in London, which has an adult ‘ball pool’, when they shared a kiss.
Ronnie said: “During the tour of the villa, I was like ‘I recognise you’ but I can’t work it out and she was like ‘Do you remember the night?’ and I was like ‘Oh, yeah’.”
The footballer – who moves in showbiz circles due to his pal Bradley Deck being married to Olivia Attwood– asked Uma: “Nothing happened though did it?”
She admitted “I’m not sure if we kissed or not”, before he cheekily replied: “Yeah, we did!”
Uma and Ronnie are far from the first stars to have known each other outside the villa, which is believed to be due to producers casting singletons from Instagram.
Back in 2021, it was reported that just three people were picked from more than 100,000 applications and the rest were scouted.
Here we reveal other cast members with connections, including former best friends and girls who share exes.
Steamy smooch
When Alexandra Cane entered the Love Island villa in series four, she and Megan Barton-Hanson acted like they’d never met before.
But, in actual fact, the girls knew each other intimately, having snogged and grinded on each other in a 2016 Giggs music video.
Fans discovered pictures of make-up artist Alexandra and Megan posing together before Love Island at We Are Festival in May 2017.
The following month, Alexandra was also credited on Instagram as the make-up artist on Sixty 6 magazine’s cover shoot, which featured Megan.
University ‘love rivals’
When Chuggs Wallis entered last year’s Love Island villa as a bombshell, it was immediately clear that he knew Hugo Hammond.
The pair revealed they went to Oxford Brookes University together.
Despite swapping pleasantries when they came face-to-face on Love Island, a source claimed they were actually “love rivals”.
The insider told The Sun: “Hugo and Chuggs knew each other through sport at uni – I think they were both interested in the same girl and went head to head on trying to date her.
“That’s why Hugo was so nervous in the villa – it’s like history repeating itself!”
Best pals
Ellie Brown was on series four of Love Island, while Amber Gill won the following year – but the pair were best friends before both appearing on the show, and often seen out together at bars like Aveika.
However, things turned sour when Ellie started dating Michael Griffiths, who savagely dumped Amber when he returned from Casa Amor.
In 2021, his antics were discussed on Heat’s Under the Duvet with VOXI as Amber appeared alongside Anna Vakili and Amy Hart.
Anna asked: “Is he with Ellie Brown now? I’m so confused.”
Amy mentioned that she thought they had split and Anna continued: “Well I heard otherwise. Ellie used to be your best friend didn’t she, Amber?”
Looking really uncomfortable Amber said: “I don’t talk about that, oh my God, this isn’t Ex on the Beach.”
Interestingly, Ellie also knew Adam Collard because he used to date one of her friends outside the villa and then dumped her.
Love Island line-up 2024
Love Island is back on the box with a brand new batch of sexy islanders all looking for love this summer.
The Girls
- Patsy Field – The Sun revealed how Love Island had signed stunning Patsy Field, who is an Influencer with a disability.
- Samantha Kenny – Liverpool lass Samantha Kenny is a 27-year-old works in a beauty salon as a make-up artist.
- Mimii Ngulube – Student nurse Mimii Ngulube has swapped Portsmouth for Majorca.
- Jess White – Shop manager Jess White hails from Stockport.
- Harriett Blackmore – Harriet Blackmore is good pals with YouTuber Saffron Barker.
- Nicole Samuel – Account manager and former champion dancer Nicole Samuel is a 2024 Islander.
The boys
- Joey Essex– Towie legend and reality star OG Joey Essex was a surprise bombshell.
- Ciaran Davies – Welsh rugby hunk Ciaran Davies is in the plush villa.
- Sean Stone – Sean Stone runs a sweet firm and is hoping he is just as sweet with the ladies.
- Munveer Jabbal – Munveer Jabbal is the oldest contestant in the villa this year at 30-years-old.
- Ayo Odukoya – Meet Ayo Odukoya who is a footballer and former model.
- Ronnie Vint – The Sun revealed how Ronnie Vint – who is best mates with Olivia Attwood’s hubby Bradley Dack – is in the villa this summer.
Dumped:
- Sam Taylor – Hairdresser Sam Taylor was first to go after Joey Essex stole his girl.
Dated same guy
In the fifth series of Love Island, Lucie Donlan got a shock when Arabella Chi entered the villa – as they’d both dated the same guy.
Surfer Lucie and Charlie Frederick– who happened to be on Love Island the year before – were together for six months before he started dating Arabella.
And, on seeing Arabella, Lucie gasped, “I’ve stalked you!”
She said: “I recognise you. You’re my ex’s ex. I’ve stalked you before.”
Holidayed together
Kendall Rae Knight was on series four of Love Island, while Molly-Mae Hague was in the following series.
But the pair had actually gone on a press trip to Dubai together a few weeks before Molly entered the villa.
I was flattered but I didn’t expect it coming in here, that someone would follow me on Instagram
Anna Vakili
Asked if she knew any of the series five Islanders, Kendall told Digital Spy: “Yes, I did actually.
“So, Molly-Mae, she’s a social media influencer, that’s what she does as a job. I actually went on a social media influencer trip with her at the beginning of the year.
“I went to Dubai with her. That’s the first time I’ve met her.”
Slid into each other’s DMs
In series five of Love Island, Sherif Lanre and Anna Vakili coupled up quite quickly – although Sherif got kicked off the show due to an incident with Molly-Mae, which led to their romance coming to an abrupt end.
After the show they were spotted together and were rumoured to be dating again – and it didn’t come as a surprise, as they’d already had contact with each other before the show.
Sherif had messaged Anna on social media, after eyeing up her pics.
After confessing all to Anna, she said: “He just brought it out so casually. Like, ‘Yeah I follow you on Instagram’.
“I was flattered but I didn’t expect it coming in here, that someone would follow me on Instagram. When I do go out, I do tend to get that a lot.”
Fancied each other for years
Maura Higgins and Curtis Pritchard got together in series five of Love Island, seemingly having met in the villa.
But the couple – who split soon after leaving the villa – had actually met several times previously, when Curtis was a professional on Dancing With The Stars Ireland.
A judge on the show, Brian Redmond, claimed the ring girl “cast eyes” at Curtis backstage.
When she came in it was nice to have a familiar face. I didn’t expect to fall out with her, out of everyone in there.
Olivia Hawkins
He told the Irish Mirror: “Maura knows the show because she has been a brand ambassador for Bellamianta, who are the tanning company for Dancing With The Stars.
“I believe Maura had been out a few times to watch the show and apparently she and Curtis had made eyes at each other across a busy dance floor years ago.”
Best mates
Marvin ‘Biggs’ Chris was one of the Casa Amor boys in the winter series of Love Island in 2020.
He ended up getting together with Rebecca Gormley, but they split after 19 months together.
And it’s likely he got some advice before he went into the villa, as his best mate is Anton Danyluk from the previous series.
Biggs and Anton have been friends for years and posted pictures of themselves in Ibiza in summer 2018.
Underwear shoots
2020 Casa Amor bombshell Josh Kempton also happened to have a good friend from the previous series – Jordan Hames.
He even modelled in boxers for his clothing brand House of Hames.
Just a month before he went into the Cape Town villa and set his sights on Shaughna Phillips, he was seen posing alongside Jordan in some skimpy briefs.
Josh uploaded the image to his Instagram page with the phrase: “Only the best of the best @houseofhxmes.”
Another less scantily-clad snap saw him posing with Jordan on a night out, which was captioned: “Blurred one with the boys.”
Winners who partied together in Ibiza
Millie Court and Liam Reardon won Love Island in 2021 and are still together now.
But eagle-eyed fans noticed both Essex girl Millie and Welsh hunk Liam partied at Wayne Lineker‘s O Beach in Ibiza within days of each other in 2018.
Millie posted a picture of herself at the celeb hotspot on September 12, while Liam uploaded a snap there with a pal just five days later.
It had viewers insisting their romance was meant to be, with one writing: “That’s crazy! They are definitely soulmates.”
Modelling gig together
Ella Thomas got quite the shock when Ouzy See walked into the villa last year.
That’s because the duo had worked a modelling gig together to promote Room Zzz Aparthotel, in Edinburgh.
They were both signed to the same modelling agency that “actively scouts the streets of Scotland to find homegrown talent to develop, motivate, nurture and support,” according to its website.
Same music video
Olivia Hawkins and Zara Lackenby-Brown repeatedly locked horns while in Love Island last year amid a “bitter feud”.
They fell out when bombshell Zara made a beeline for Tom Clare, who was with Olivia at the time.
The Sun exclusively revealed that that pair knew each other before going on the show because they both appeared in a music video for Dapz’s track Take Me Away.
Love Island's booze rules revealed
LOVE Island stars might well be seen enjoying a tipple from a snazzy flute glass - yet what's the deal with booze in the villa?
Love Island has long had a two drink rule for stars, with a specific cap on the alcohol each night.
All food and drink is bought by the show, so contestants are monitored closely during their wild nights in the villa.
Former Islanders including Eyal Booker and Laura Anderson have confirmed this in the past, sharing how little alcohol there was available on set.
Speaking to The Mirror, Laura said there were occasionally one or two bottles of Prosecco between them, “but you’d be lucky to get half a glass of that!”
Additionally, speaking about alcohol consumption in conversation with Closer, model Eyal also said: “It was very, very limited. Max two glasses of wine a night and that’s max!”
Meanwhile, viewers were convinced show bosses had relaxed the rules for the recent All Stars series.
Olivia later told us they were “work colleagues, not so much friends” but once the show came to an end she “held no grudges” over their previous clashes.
She added: “When she came in it was nice to have a familiar face. I didn’t expect to fall out with her, out of everyone in there.”
Dads ‘good pals’
In a surprising twist, Jay Younger knew not one but two of the stars from Love Island back in 2022 – Jack Keating and Adam Collard.
Jay told Heat magazine: “I think my dad and Ronan [Keating] are very good pals.”
He said he “only made the connection” after the other boys told him: “It’s Ronan’s son”.
Jay also knew ultimate bombshell Adam due to the pair competing in gym competitions together.
Ex link
In the 2022 series, a link between Luca Bish and the previous year’s contestant Abigail Rawlings was discovered.
He used to date influencer Sophie Floyd, who has more than 418,000 followers on Instagram.
Unbeknown to him, Sophie worked at the same tattoo parlour as Abigail.